Category Archives: government

***As news about California’s ongoing drought continues to worsen (it’s now about to cause EARTHQUAKES, apparently…), we thought we’d re-offer this old post as a reminder that their current water shortage was not only predictable, but also largely preventable. Something to think about as that state’s agriculture-based economy continues to crater, and our nation’s food prices continue to soar. —JTR

Recently, our Feckless Leader reached new heights of ingenuousness, as he sought to “rescue” us from a problem which he and his ideological buddies created in the first place:

(via Yahoo! News) – “…President Barack Obama toured parts of California’s drought zone on Friday and pledged to speed help to the No. 1 farm state, but he said harsh weather in the United States will get worse until more steps are taken to address climate change.

California is coming off its driest year on record and a recent winter storm did little to dull the impact of the drought in the state that produces half the country’s fruits and vegetables. A recent drought monitor said 91.6 percent of the state is experiencing severe to exceptional drought…”

In the absence of context, this is kinda-sorta true: California isindeed experiencing a terrible drought, and the winter is doing little to alleviate the situation. What’s deliberately missing is WHY this is such a problem right now. And no, it hasn’t a whit to do with Climate Change. Continue reading →

At this point, it may be easier to compile a list of the Federal Government employees whose computers DIDN’T “crash”.

This time, it’s the EPA which is allegedly suffering from Compu Spontaneius Breakus. But to place this newest chapter into context, a quick refresher is called for:

(via National Journal) – “…Issa issued a subpoena in November for documents and communications between the Environmental Protection Agency and the Executive Office of the President over a five-year period as part of an inquiry into whether the White House interfered with how the agency responded to congressional inquiries.

One of the main tenets of the IRS’s (current) story about the Lerner emails is that they went to “extraordinary lengths” to recover them, but —darn the bad luck!!— they just couldn’t. Oh, well.

But based on the following questions from Republican Representative Jason Chaffetz, I’m guessing that YOUR definition of going to “extraordinary lengths” is probably not in sync with what the IRS’s definition seems to be:

Have you ever wondered what the operative definition of “supercilious” was? How about “imperious“? “High-handed“, perhaps? Well, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen’s testimony today is as good an example of all of those as I could have provided previously:

“…I have a long career, that’s the first time anybody has said they don’t believe me…”

Based on the laughable claims you are currently making, Mr. Koskinen, I’d offer that such a description is likely long, long overdue:

Lerner and Company obviously figure that if they just keep the lies going, they’ll outlast Congress and any potential media scrutiny. Can’t fault them for the strategy, as it’s certainly worked out fine for them with EVERY OTHER SCANDAL so far…

“…These emails are not stored on a signal server or a single computer, so if there were a crash of a hard drive or some sort of system failure, they would still be retrievable. According to [John] Koskinen, the IRS Commissioner at the time, he told Congress that emails were stored offsite. That jives with people who said emails were backed up daily. There is a responsibility on the part of government officials to retain the data, make sure that is and can’t be lost in the system. If it’s true that the emails are lost, that’s quite a story in itself…”